Beyond Trim: The connection between high blood cholesterol and your eyes

Last month you probably saw a lot of information about high cholesterol and how it can be bad for your heart health; it turns out that cholesterol should still be at the forefront of our minds in March, which is Healthy Vision Month.

High cholesterol can affect our vision causing blurriness, dark spots and eye pain. The most common cholesterol related eye problem doesn’t affect vision but may be more visible. Xanthelasma is a yellowing of the skin around the eyes and may appear as raised or yellowish deposits around the eyes or near the nose. About half of the people who have xanthelasmas have high cholesterol and they are more common in people who are overweight, may be smokers, have high blood pressure or have diabetes.

Now that you have double the reasons to pay attention to your cholesterol, you might consider this advice from the Mayo Clinic about lifestyle choices to improve your numbers:

1. Eat a heart-healthy diet. Reduce saturated fats (found primarily in red meats and full fat dairy products), eliminate trans fats (listed as “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” on food labels), and eat fats that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids like nuts, avocado and fish. Increase fiber, especially soluble fiber found in foods like oatmeal, beans and fruit. Reduce the sugar in your diet as it can lead to higher bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol.

2. Exercise on most days of the week and increase your physical activity. Moderate physical activity can help raise your good cholesterol. Work up to at least 30 minutes of exercise five times a week or vigorous aerobic activity for 20 minutes three times a week.

3. If you are a smoker, quit smoking. Quitting smoking improves your good cholesterol.

4. Lose weight if you need to. Losing just 10% of your total body weight can improve cholesterol numbers and may also improve your blood sugar and blood pressure.

5. Drink alcohol only in moderation (no more than on drink per day for women and two for men.) While some studies have shown a positive association between alcohol consumption and good cholesterol, the evidence isn’t strong enough to recommend it and drinking alcohol can lead to serious health problems, including high blood pressure, heart failure and strokes.

They say our eyes are the windows to our soul, but they may also be providing clues to our physical health. You can help your heart and eye health by keeping cholesterol numbers in check.

Sherry DeWalt is a healthy lifestyles coordinator with the CGH Health Foundation.